Richard Vatz

Towson University rhetoric and communication professor Richard Vatz knows how to make an effective argument. It's a passion he's turned into a career. He's been on TU's faculty for 42 years, with a central goal—helping students understand the importance of a persuasive point. Yes, he's dedicated to a good debate, but teaching comes first, and it's what he loves most.

"I will teach until I am no longer physically able to," Dr. Vatz says.

It may seem as though such a long-serving professor need not do anything more for his institution. Yet he has done just that. Dr. Vatz has endowed a merit-based debate scholarship at TU and has included the university in his estate planning.

"Universities are not all the same," he says. "I've always perceived that Towson University has many more good people than other institutions."

He says he's based that argument on research, familiarizing himself with dozens of schools. He values personal integrity and academic freedom, and he'll use his considerable persuasive skills on anyone he thinks poses a challenge to those things. Fortunately, he doesn't have to do that very often at TU.

"There are so many people at Towson University who try to do what's right," he says with emphasis. That's all the argument needed to persuade him to give.

If you want to include Towson University in your estate plan, as professor Richard Vatz has done, please contact Kathleen Hider at (410) 704-6287 or khider@towson.edu to get started.